Come and be a guest blogger on Product Junkie's Junk!
I am looking for Beauty bloggers to come and feature on my blog, I want to
do a series of questions and answers around your favourite, and not so favourite
products, those to die for items and the things that you just can't live
without! I want to do this so my readers can see the real must have products,
from experienced product junkies! I will be looking to feature this at the end
of July and will be tweeting asking for sisters who are interested, to contact
me by email or twitter.
I am more than happy to promote your blog on here in return for your
answers!
Looking forward to getting to see what makes my fellow beauty bloggers
tick
Over and Out....
Makeup Course Update - Section 1
So as you know I am currently studying towards my qualification in Makeup
Artistry with ICS. I have received my first dispatch of items, (see previous
blog) which is all based around the Legal aspects of Make up Artistry and
preparing someone’s face for makeup. You have 4 'test papers' to complete for
this section.
So far I have managed to get through 1 test paper and am ready to do my second, if I am honest this first part is pretty simple and is around Health and Safety Law, Employment Law and your responsibilities as a 'small business'. I deal with this allot in my day job so was able to power through this section in a couple of days.
In the first test paper you have to relate the correct legislations to the scenarios, such as 'An employee is entitled to a written statement of earnings' and you have to match it up to The Employment Rights Act 1996. (that may sound more complicated than it is, they tell you all you need to know in quite simple text) the next part of test one is about the different types of career within the makeup industry, such as Media, Beauty Salon and Beauty counter and the pros and cons of both. You then have to complete a 'self analysis' and rate on a scale of 1-10 each industry and how much you feel you would want to have a career in it and why. Over all this test paper (although I have not yet had the results) was pretty easy as long as you have read the information that they have given you.
The second test paper is all about preparing someone’s skin for makeup and which products that you should use. You do get all the products that you need for the test in the bag that they send with your written materials. It talks you through the different types of cleansers and toners and which should be used on different skin types and what the benefits of each are, you then have to do this on a model whilst taking pictures of each step, from setting up your station, to what you are wearing for the treatment and pictures whilst you are doing the treatments. Your model then needs to complete a questionnaire on how they found the session, and you write up a 1 side of A4 a written report on what steps you took before, during and after the treatment. Like I said I am now ready for this step but it is difficult to find time to actually get on with it!
I hope that this is of some use for those of you who are thinking of enrolling in a similar course which I am aware that some of you are. I will blog again for sections 3 and 4, if you have any questions please contact me from the 'contact me' page.
Over and Out....
So far I have managed to get through 1 test paper and am ready to do my second, if I am honest this first part is pretty simple and is around Health and Safety Law, Employment Law and your responsibilities as a 'small business'. I deal with this allot in my day job so was able to power through this section in a couple of days.
In the first test paper you have to relate the correct legislations to the scenarios, such as 'An employee is entitled to a written statement of earnings' and you have to match it up to The Employment Rights Act 1996. (that may sound more complicated than it is, they tell you all you need to know in quite simple text) the next part of test one is about the different types of career within the makeup industry, such as Media, Beauty Salon and Beauty counter and the pros and cons of both. You then have to complete a 'self analysis' and rate on a scale of 1-10 each industry and how much you feel you would want to have a career in it and why. Over all this test paper (although I have not yet had the results) was pretty easy as long as you have read the information that they have given you.
The second test paper is all about preparing someone’s skin for makeup and which products that you should use. You do get all the products that you need for the test in the bag that they send with your written materials. It talks you through the different types of cleansers and toners and which should be used on different skin types and what the benefits of each are, you then have to do this on a model whilst taking pictures of each step, from setting up your station, to what you are wearing for the treatment and pictures whilst you are doing the treatments. Your model then needs to complete a questionnaire on how they found the session, and you write up a 1 side of A4 a written report on what steps you took before, during and after the treatment. Like I said I am now ready for this step but it is difficult to find time to actually get on with it!
I hope that this is of some use for those of you who are thinking of enrolling in a similar course which I am aware that some of you are. I will blog again for sections 3 and 4, if you have any questions please contact me from the 'contact me' page.
Over and Out....
Make me Blush!
Wednesday, 27 June 2012
One of my favourite Makeup products has to be blush, and I am a strong believer in it's importance to finnish a look.
Quite often, the importance of blush is disregarded, and I believe that this is down to our understanding of how much it can enhance our beauty and, so easily!!
I was totally unaware of how easily I could define my cheek bones and face shape at home using simple products, (and how I could do this everyday) until I visited a professional beauty counter.
I think that if the right colour is chosen it can make you look so polished and sexy, making your look so much more sophisticated. If you take a look at celebrities you can see that it is a makeup product that is never missed from their look, this is because professional makeup artists know the importance of it and how it can define someone's look.
As with the application of other make up products, there are ways in which blush can be added to enhance different skin tones and complexions and truly make us look sexier ( note, it can sometimes take more than this, don't start dancing around to 'do you think I'm sexy')
Undertones....
First of all, you need to understand what the undertone is to your skin. I have found the easiest way to determine this is to look on the back of your forearm at you veins, if they appear a bluely colour you have a cool undertone, if they appear more greeny in colour you have a warm undertone to your skin, and if they appear to be a mixture of both, or you are unable to see you have a neutral undertone.
what colour should you be looking at to compliment your lovely skin tone?...
Cool tones - people with cool tones to their skin suit pinky or berry colours as a blush, these two colours will compliment the blue undertones to your skin.
My favourite on at the moment is.....
Benefit Hervana 'a good karma' Blush - £23.50 but will last you
yonks...
I love this product as when you swirl all the colours in the block together on a blush brush it leaves you with a subtle pink rose colour that is perfect for the summer months...
Are you keeping up.....
Warm tones - for
ladies with a warm skin tone, so your veins appear a slight green
colour in your forearm suit coral, peachy warm reds or browns, I also
think that a hot pink colour looks lovely on people with warm skin tones
as well (this is proberly against all professionals religion!) as with
our cooler toned sisters, you should choose the shade of your blusher
depending on your completion and lighter skinned people, will suit a
lighter blush shade.
Celebrities with a warm skin tone tone are... Beyonce and Julia Roberts
My
favourite products for warm skin at the moment again, is Daniel Sandler Water colour
blush in either Gentle or Angel, which is a beautiful apricot colour, and
is perfect again for the summer months!
another one I like, that surprised me actually, is Marks and Spencer's new Limited Makeup range, I love the Cinnamon colour...
And last but of course not least our neutral toned sisters....
If your veins appear to be a mixture of colours, or you are unable to see them, you lucky girls have neutral toned skin and can pull off any of the colours above and more...
Thank you for taking time to read my blog, I hope that it has been of some use to you.
Don’t forget to subscribe!
Over and out.....
Quite often, the importance of blush is disregarded, and I believe that this is down to our understanding of how much it can enhance our beauty and, so easily!!
I was totally unaware of how easily I could define my cheek bones and face shape at home using simple products, (and how I could do this everyday) until I visited a professional beauty counter.
I think that if the right colour is chosen it can make you look so polished and sexy, making your look so much more sophisticated. If you take a look at celebrities you can see that it is a makeup product that is never missed from their look, this is because professional makeup artists know the importance of it and how it can define someone's look.
As with the application of other make up products, there are ways in which blush can be added to enhance different skin tones and complexions and truly make us look sexier ( note, it can sometimes take more than this, don't start dancing around to 'do you think I'm sexy')
Undertones....
First of all, you need to understand what the undertone is to your skin. I have found the easiest way to determine this is to look on the back of your forearm at you veins, if they appear a bluely colour you have a cool undertone, if they appear more greeny in colour you have a warm undertone to your skin, and if they appear to be a mixture of both, or you are unable to see you have a neutral undertone.
what colour should you be looking at to compliment your lovely skin tone?...
Cool tones - people with cool tones to their skin suit pinky or berry colours as a blush, these two colours will compliment the blue undertones to your skin.
Celebrities with a cool skin tone are Emily Blunt and Cameron Diaz..
When
choosing your pinky or berry coloured blush it is important to take
into consideration the lightness of your skin, people with a paler
complexion should stick with light rose coloured tints ( I love this
look and try to pull it off even tho i have one a warm skin tone) you
cool skinned ladies pull it off much better than me!
My favourite on at the moment is.....
Benefit Hervana 'a good karma' Blush - £23.50 but will last you
yonks...
I love this product as when you swirl all the colours in the block together on a blush brush it leaves you with a subtle pink rose colour that is perfect for the summer months...
Ladies with a darker cool completion can go for a darker more berry coloured blush, one of my favourites
is Daniel Sandler's Water Colour fluid Blush you can get this in soooo many colours but the berry one is lush...
Daniel Sandler Water Colour blush - £14.50
Are you keeping up.....
Celebrities with a warm skin tone tone are... Beyonce and Julia Roberts
another one I like, that surprised me actually, is Marks and Spencer's new Limited Makeup range, I love the Cinnamon colour...
I can't quite believe this is.... £4....!
(I can see another blog comming on about Marks and Spencers new range)
And last but of course not least our neutral toned sisters....
If your veins appear to be a mixture of colours, or you are unable to see them, you lucky girls have neutral toned skin and can pull off any of the colours above and more...
Thank you for taking time to read my blog, I hope that it has been of some use to you.
Don’t forget to subscribe!
Over and out.....
It's Official, I am on the Real Techniques band wagon! ...
Sunday, 24 June 2012
So I have been seeing EVERYWHERE people talking about the real techniques
brushes and raving about how amazing they are, I usually use MAC and Bobbi
Brown brushes but I decided to see what all the fuss was about and
purchase myself some of the real technique brushes.
I wasn't sure where the best place to purchase them from was, but managed to find them on Love Makeup (along with about a million other things I can't afford but continued to purchase!). I was actually really shocked how reasonable the price was, I was expecting them to be quite expensive due to the fact they are related to Samantha Chapman from PixiWoo. If you don't know who she is, her and her sister are pretty popular at the moment in the makeup world, they have a You Tube channel and a blog where they show you how to copy celebrity looks and they also review beauty products and makeup - these girls are actually the reason for me pulling my finger out and start my long anticipated blog and enrol myself on a BTEC Make up course (see previous blog), I have always loved makeup but never really thought I'd be able to do any more than practice on myself in front of my mirror, however watching their videos amongst others made me realise the hundreds of different avenues you can take in the beauty world and encouraged me to grab the 'bull by both horns' and give it a go.
Anyway I first purchased three brushes out of the set which I believe there is 10 individual brushes and also three sets of about 5 brushes you can buy, one set is for your face and one for your eyes I believe, the brushes are colour coded, Purple handles are for your eyes and gold are for your face and pink are for your finish.
When I got the delivery of the brushes I am honest my first impression was that they were not as big as I expected, I am not very good at understanding sizes but from he pictures online I expected them to be longer in the handle. I could not wait to try them out.
The Stippling Brush £10.99
I like to use cream Blusher such as Daniel Sandler Water colour or Urban Decay Cream blush. I had often found it hard to get a subtitle and well blended application on my cheeks, the Stippling brush was my answer! I now can't remember a time before using it! It is the perfect size to apply the product just to the apples of your cheeks and the duel fibre bristles give you an amazing airbrush finish with no brush marks! 10/10
The Setting Brush £6.99
The shading Brush £6.99
I love, Love Love this brush! it is better than any MAC brushes that I have fir shading eye shadow into the crease of the eye and blending your colours together, it has a firm bristle structure which are quite short allowing you to have perfect control over your application or shading 10/10
I have also just placed an order for the expert face brush which will be the first of the face collection that I have, I bought this brush with the intention to use for foundation application so I will update you on what I think of that but I am pretty sure that I will love it as much as the others, I believe that the 14 years experience that Samantha Chapman has in Makeup has really paid off on these brushes.
Check out the website too as they give you great tips on application! Real Techniques
Thank you
Ellen x
I wasn't sure where the best place to purchase them from was, but managed to find them on Love Makeup (along with about a million other things I can't afford but continued to purchase!). I was actually really shocked how reasonable the price was, I was expecting them to be quite expensive due to the fact they are related to Samantha Chapman from PixiWoo. If you don't know who she is, her and her sister are pretty popular at the moment in the makeup world, they have a You Tube channel and a blog where they show you how to copy celebrity looks and they also review beauty products and makeup - these girls are actually the reason for me pulling my finger out and start my long anticipated blog and enrol myself on a BTEC Make up course (see previous blog), I have always loved makeup but never really thought I'd be able to do any more than practice on myself in front of my mirror, however watching their videos amongst others made me realise the hundreds of different avenues you can take in the beauty world and encouraged me to grab the 'bull by both horns' and give it a go.
Anyway I first purchased three brushes out of the set which I believe there is 10 individual brushes and also three sets of about 5 brushes you can buy, one set is for your face and one for your eyes I believe, the brushes are colour coded, Purple handles are for your eyes and gold are for your face and pink are for your finish.
When I got the delivery of the brushes I am honest my first impression was that they were not as big as I expected, I am not very good at understanding sizes but from he pictures online I expected them to be longer in the handle. I could not wait to try them out.
The Stippling Brush £10.99
I like to use cream Blusher such as Daniel Sandler Water colour or Urban Decay Cream blush. I had often found it hard to get a subtitle and well blended application on my cheeks, the Stippling brush was my answer! I now can't remember a time before using it! It is the perfect size to apply the product just to the apples of your cheeks and the duel fibre bristles give you an amazing airbrush finish with no brush marks! 10/10
The Setting Brush £6.99
I use this brush to apply foundation to under my eyes to
cover dark circles, the length of the bristles really allows you to get an even
coverage, it is quite difficult to get an even application if you are using
quite a thick product such as Benefit erase paste but if you are using a more
fluid concealer such as moisture cover by MAC you are able to get a very even
coverage. This is also great for applying power under your eyes 8/10 (this is only due to the current product I
use)
The shading Brush £6.99
I love, Love Love this brush! it is better than any MAC brushes that I have fir shading eye shadow into the crease of the eye and blending your colours together, it has a firm bristle structure which are quite short allowing you to have perfect control over your application or shading 10/10
I have also just placed an order for the expert face brush which will be the first of the face collection that I have, I bought this brush with the intention to use for foundation application so I will update you on what I think of that but I am pretty sure that I will love it as much as the others, I believe that the 14 years experience that Samantha Chapman has in Makeup has really paid off on these brushes.
Check out the website too as they give you great tips on application! Real Techniques
Thank you
Ellen x
Benefit Makeup Haul!
My most recent purchases' have been from Benefit. If I am honest I never thought that I would be shopping at Benefit in my 20's, they were a brand that I used to love in my teenage years, I think this was due to the wacky (I am prob quite boring so I class it as wacky) packaging and names that they gave their products and because all my friends at school and college bought it and this made you 'cool'.
The reason that I went back to Benefit after 10 or so years was due to a colleague of mine (yes I have a boring 9-5 job and we ALL are insanely jealous of anyone who does any slightly creative/interesting job and spend our days moaning about how nasty they must be) she was getting married and had decided to do her own make up on the day, she had gone around numerous beauty counters in town looking at makeup and like most of us didn't know what she wanted or needed and was intimidated by all the heavily made up ladies on the counters gossiping and laughing with each other, whilst she was trying to pretend to know what she was looking at, whilst putting eye shadow on her cheeks... a young girl came over and said I'm pretty quite at the moment do you want to come to my stand and have a makeover? so over she went to the Benefit counter and from there she became a Benefit Junkie and has since ended up buying every product they do I think..
I then come into the story, when she came into work following her haul she instantly looked amazingly different (for the better) I couldn't believe it and needed to know what she was wearing immediately!.... when she said it was all form Benefit, if I am honest ,I was a little dubious to go and try them, but try them I did and ended up spending over £150 on products, whilst I am now again a fan after all those years, if I am honest not everything that I tried was suitable for me. here a few examples....
Pore Professional - this is a pro balm which is designed to minimize the appearance of pores, I think it is new and it claims to be lightweight and oil free, I was told that is contains silicone which smoothes your skin... I can honestly say that if,like me,you can't be bothered in the morning to spend ages on your make up,this is an amazing product,it gives your skin a 'coat' that is not greasy but very smooth which allows you to apply your foundation flawlessly, I even found that I am using less foundation! you also get quite allot, so although a little pricey, I defiantly reckon this will last you a good while... the cost of this is £23.50 which I would consider quite pricey but it will save you money on foundation and will last you a long time! 8/10 you can purchase it here
Erase Paste - This product is a brightening camouflage for eyes and face and I was sold it to use under my eyes to cover dark circles,which I suffer badly with, it comes in a small pot which I just can't understand why they would put it in such a silly pot! the opening to the pot is very narrow (they even give you a spatula to get it out with! as if they knew this) you do need to get it out with your finger as I found using a concealer brush was quite difficult, and you ended up with too much product. Once the product is on, I think that the positive points are that unlike concealer it is very moisturising and does not dry out or crack under your eyes during the day, however for me I just don't feel it gives me enough coverage, I think that I need something with a more orange pigment to counteract the blue, this I feel just leaves me with an ashy tone under my eye... the cost of this is £19.50 however I feel that you can get better and cheaper products than this one.. Sorry! 4/10 you can buy it here
They're Real Mascara- Oh My this is the most amazing Mascara I have ever tried! I used to use YSL Luxurious Mascara for a False Lash effect which costs approx £23 and I vowed I would never find mascara like it however I believe this beauty from benefit has done it! It has a special brush which has a 'hedgehog' at the end which allows you to get even the smallest lashes; it also draws a decent amount of product out of the packet and covers your lashes oh so well! The only thing is it is a nightmare to get off unless you have a really oily eye makeup remover.. This costs £18.50 is a 10/10
So there you have my views on a small amount of the Benefit range, I am sure that I will pick myself up some more and let you know what I think, also check out the Benefit website as they have great makeup tips there too!
Thank you for reading Ellen xx
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